This weekend, the TKO corporation will bring Crown Jewel, an event that was previously for Saudi Arabia, to Perth, Australia for three events. Sure this means that Smackdown, the pay-per-view, and Raw will air at 8 AM on the east coast, but as we’ve seen within the past few years, these overseas events are very lucrative. Until technology caught up, specifically with the ability to watch shows at anytime through the use of streaming platforms, locations outside of the United States could only realistically get glorified house shows because of the logistics and travel involved. Keep in mind, the entire WWE production, including the equipment, crew, and talent have to make the trip to the other side of the globe. Despite the advancement in technology that makes the broadcast a more realistic option for a pay-per-view, the geography remains the same so it’s not surprising that management is maximizing the ability to monetize the flight literally around the world with three shows in Australia.
That being said, based on the current line up of just five matches on the main card, will Crown Jewel still amount to essentially a glorified house show?
Truth to told, when the concept of champion vs. champion was paid for by the Saudis last year, it was something that you could justify based on the amount of cash that the government put up for the event. The opportunity cost of that scenario was that it made one of the champions look secondary in the grand scheme of things for very little cache in terms of momentum going forward. The audience knows that it’s a glorified exhibition because the silly-looking Crown Jewel belt was nothing more than a prop to appease the Saudi government for their propaganda campaign. It wasn’t a title that had any importance within the scope of the company and it wasn’t going to be defended so what exactly was at stake?
That’s why it was puzzling that the office would repeat the same process this year without the highest profit margin possible that the Saudi government brings to the table. Similar to what I wrote about the Adam Page vs. Kyle Fletcher bout that was booked as the main event of the All Out pay-per-view on less than two weeks notice, the Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins match at Crown Jewel is another example of lazy booking. It’s a superficial crutch that is being used as a substitute for a compelling angle, and given the level of star power currently on the roster, there’s more than enough talent to book a worthwhile pay-per-view card, even with the countless hours of content that the WWE machine produces already.
More than the Gunner/Cody match last year, I’d say that there’s less room for error so to speak this time with Rhodes/Rollins since both of them are at key points of their title reigns. Cody regained the WWE championship, and if the office wants to keep him fresh, he has to continue to look strong in a progressive journey as champion to set up for the WWE cards in the fall that will ultimately lead to Wrestlemania next year in Las Vegas. The same could be said for Seth Rollins, as he’s still in the formative stages of his latest push and it’s probably the best spot of his entire career so there’s no reason to book anything that would be a hindrance to that.
For years, Seth played second fiddle to either Roman Reigns or Dean Ambrose, and when he was finally put in the main event scene, his character had to endure some absolute drek around the time period that AEW was set to launch, with the argument to be made that some of that same drek is what ultimately prompted the demand for an alternative product. Now, Seth is getting the spotlight as a legitimate star and his association with Paul Heyman for the past six months, including the swerve when he cashed in the MITB contract to win the title, have undoubtedly boosted his stock.
I’m not sure it’s wise for either champion to take a loss in this scenario, with the bigger downside being on the for Rollins since he has less tenure in the main event scene so if I had to guess, I’d say that the Heyman stable or possibly Brock Lesnar could interfere to cost Cody the match. It’s an excuse, albeit a flimsy excuse, for Cody to take a defeat without sacrificing his credibility as champion. The only reason I say this is that I don’t see a way that Rollins can lose without being typecast as “the other champion” among the WWE landscape. Still, I don’t think the almost nonexistent payoff is worth booking the match, but management seems to have booked themselves into a corner.
There’s less to say about it because neither champion has as much cache since they’ve had much shorter careers in the WWE so far, but it’s a very similar situation with the Stephanie Vaquer/Tiffany Stratton bout. Vaquer just won the championship in a stellar match against Iyo Sky just a few weeks ago, and Stratton is still in the process of establishing herself as a star in the female division that has a lot of depth and considerable star power. A loss for Vaquer suggest that she’s not ready for the role of champion, and the same might be true for Tiffany considering her status compared to the other stars of the division. Again, there’s very little upside and a steeper downside for this equation. Granted, it’s one pay-per-view, but we’ve seem potential stars lose momentum with key losses at key times before. I don’t know what the right call is for this one, but given that the company just switched back to a $30 price tag to watch the event, they can’t book multiple DQs as a way to get out of the stipulation without damaging a champion.
John Cena vs. AJ Styles should be a very fun match, considering that the two have a storied history and the match is taking place as a sign of their respect for each other. All they have to do to have a good match is play the greatest hits, and there’s nothing wrong with that for this contest. That being said, this is quite literally an exhibition, as its a stand alone with Cena set to retire at the end of this year, and Styles rumored to hang up his boots in 2026.
The last two matches on the card, the women’s tag match and the Roman Reigns/Bronson Reed bout, are the two contests that have something at stake in terms of progress for storylines or career trajectory. The tag team angle in the women’s division is a good way to utilize the talent involved in a fresh way, allowing for some new faces to get involved in the title picture. Bronson Reed vs. Roman Reigns could be a major moment for Reed, especially if they have him beat the former record-setting WWE champion in his home country. We saw Bronson attack Roman and send him out on a stretcher, which made Reed look like a legitimate monster, but it will be interesting to see how far the office wants to push him in this storyline. While it would be reasonable for Roman to get a measure of revenge with a victory, a defeat doesn’t really do much harm to his status in the company, but a win for Bronson could be a significant moment to boost his stock in the company. It depends on what path the office sees for Reed in terms of how far up the ladder they think he can go as a marketable star, and I’m honestly not sure what his ceiling is within the WWE banner, but at the very least, there’s something on the line based on the result of the match.
It’s interesting to note that neither the Usos or CM Punk are on the card, despite their segment on Raw this week. If I had to guess, I’d say that they will make an appearance at some point during the event, but it makes you wonder if management looks to move them slightly down the card to make room for other talent on the brand. Since the ESPN app is subscription based, the start time is rather irrelevant, but at this point,when the company and the network are looking to sell fans on the move to the new platform with a more expensive cost, the Crown Jewel card isn’t necessarily something that will generate new subscribers.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
